Search form

Share this on

National Security and Emergency Preparedness

American business has a multifaceted stake in a strong national defense and a homeland security policy that safeguards Americans while also protecting their mobility, their freedom and their way of life. If terrorism or the threat of it chokes off our ability to move people and goods in a global economy, we will pay a tremendous price in growth and prosperity.

About the Department

The National Security & Emergency Preparedness Department advocates on behalf of the Chamber’s members who have a direct stake in homeland and national security issues. Through its National Security Task Force (NSTF) and working groups, the department works with Congress, the administration and international governments and institutions to provide a competitive and secure global trade environment, strong private sector cyber networks and systems, and a disaster resilient business community.

The National Security Task is made up of more than 170 companies, associations, and state and local chambers of all sizes. The Task Force advocates its policy positions through outreach to Congress, regulatory filings with agencies, engagement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other administration officials, communication with the media, and public forums with elected/appointed officials and members of the business community. The Task Force makes recommendations and offers solutions to Washington leaders on an array of homeland and national security challenges such as critical infrastructure protection and resilience, cybersecurity, supply chain, and customs and trade facilitation.

The Chamber urges policymakers to focus on improving coordination, and bridging the preparedness and response gaps that exist among businesses and federal, state, and local responders. More than 85% of critical infrastructure in the United States is owned and operated by the private sector. Cyber response capabilities are not always well coordinated due to inadequate information sharing. Public-private partnerships are vital because the “response baton” may need to be passed quickly from industry to the public sector, such as law enforcement authorities, because either the nature of a cyberattack outstrips a company’s ability to respond effectively, or it may be difficult to determine whether the attacker is a mischief-maker, an insider, or a nation-state.

Supply chain, customs and trade facilitation issues are critically to the economic competitiveness of businesses. Companies rely on these global supply chains to access international consumers, source for component inputs and compete in the global marketplace. Chokepoints, such as excessive customs mandates, ineffective security mandates, inadequate infrastructure, and burdensome or redundant regulation can have the same detrimental impact on trade as tariffs. The Chamber advocates for increased efficiency and predictability in the global supply chain by promoting customs modernization, eliminating bottlenecks and inequities in the logistics infrastructure, reforming security, and removing redundant or burdensome trade regulations to facilitate the just-in-time delivery and production environment.

The purpose of the “Building Operational Public Private Partnerships” is to provide a guide for state, local, tribal, territorial governments and private sector businesses attempting to build public private partnerships to serve the interdependent needs of the community. Specifically, the guide is designed for those organizations that intend to collaborate before a disaster (e.g., preparedness, planning, training, exercises), coordinate operationally during an event (e.g., incident (crisis, disaster, emergency, Stafford/Non-Stafford, response), and collaborate post-event (e.g., incident (recovery, mitigation and resilience activities) consistent with Grant Guidance and prevailing doctrine through the National Preparedness System and Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA).

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, today hosted a cybersecurity conference aimed at helping small and mid-size businesses develop, evaluate, and strengthen their cybersecurity programs.

As security ratings continue to mature, more organizations in the public and private sectors leverage them in making business and risk decisions. As a key piece of a robust security evaluation program, security ratings based on accurate and relevant information are useful tools in evaluating cyber risk and facilitating collaborative, risk-based conversations between organizations. Security rating companies use a combination of data points collected or purchased from public and private sources and proprietary algorithms to articulate an organization’s security effectiveness into a quantifiable measure or score. As these ratings rely in part upon the quality and breadth of the data they use, the variety of sources and the dynamic nature of the environment create risks of producing ratings that can potentially be inaccurate, irrelevant or incomplete.

From shipping to staffing, the Chamber and its partners have the tools to save your business
money and the solutions to help you run it more efficiently. Join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
today to start saving.

Subscribe for updates

Above the Fold is your window on policy, with analysis, commentary and real stories about the intersection of government and business.